


A Million Colors in Black and White

by shadowtraveled (meteorfest)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Multi, Mythological References, Pianist!Nico, some implied dark themes; nothing major
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-18
Updated: 2015-09-18
Packaged: 2018-04-21 08:30:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4822256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meteorfest/pseuds/shadowtraveled
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Percy is losing sleep because of his neighbor, who keeps practicing the piano late into the night. When he's finally had enough, he decides to confront his neighbor, but the confrontation falls flat when it turns out that his neighbor is kind of hot. Things escalate when Percy finds out that his neighbor might be in a little trouble.</p><p>Percico, prompt from Juliana. Also has side helpings of Reynabeth and Will/Mitchell (and, on request from a friend, Travis/Austin).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sonata

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> So, basically, Juliana sent me this prompt on tumblr back in April and I've been fighting with this fic ever since because IT WOULD NOT END. I really wanted to write something cute, fluffy, and short, but it turned into something not quite that cute, not all that fluffy, and DEFINITELY not short. I ended up splitting it into four parts because it got way too long for me to consider it a one-shot.

Percy Jackson hadn’t even met his new neighbor yet and he already didn’t like him. There were only four apartments on the upper floor of the building and two of them had been empty when the new tenant had moved in, the third occupied by an elderly deaf woman. Of the empty apartments, why had the new guy chosen the one next to Percy? Percy would probably never have cared - probably wouldn’t even really be aware he even had a new neighbor -

\- if it weren’t for the piano.

Percy honestly had nothing against pianos or musicians in general. He was actually kind of envious of anyone who could play an instrument - he had no musical talent to speak of; he couldn’t even sing that well, always off-key whenever he decided to sing along to his favorite songs on the radio. His best friend, Grover, played the panpipes and, while he was admittedly not the best of musicians, he played at decent tune and it was still more than what Percy could do. So, no, it really wasn’t actually the piano that was the problem.

It was the fact that his neighbor was playing the piano during late hours of the night that was the problem.

He complained about it often, how he would be in bed after a long day juggling school, homework, and his part time job, and it wouldn’t be long before he heard his neighbor come home. There never really seemed to be a set time when his neighbor came in, but it was always late. Percy would always almost be asleep. Then the music would start up.

And it wasn’t that it was a radio that needed to be turned down. It was definitely an actual piano - probably an electronic keyboard, since there was no way a full piano would fit into the rather small apartments. He could hear, through the walls, a series of notes being played, then a wrong key, a two second pause, and then the whole thing from the beginning. It was often the same piece, a slow piece that was probably beautiful in its entirety, but Percy only ever heard parts of it before he would tuck his head under his pillow in the effort to block it out.

It had already gone on for a couple of weeks. The first few times, it was just an annoyance, but after a week, he’d gotten angry - he needed to sleep so he didn’t go to his morning classes exhausted. Finally, he went over and knocked on the door to try to talk to his neighbor, to no avail. The door stayed closed and there was no sound of movement inside the apartment. Percy figured the other tenant had already left for the day.

He didn’t catch him after school, either. Percy had only a short, hour long reprieve between his classes at the university and his job doing rounds at the aquarium. He was hoping to catch his neighbor during that break and try to have a polite conversation with him about his late night playing. Unfortunately, it appeared the guy wasn’t home and Percy didn’t have time to waste waiting around to see if he showed up. He changed clothes, grabbed a quick lunch, and headed out again.

That night, when Percy got home from his shift and a late dinner picked up at the Burger King drive-thru, there was no piano music. Percy went to bed and curled up under the blankets, beginning to doze and, still, no piano music echoed through the walls as before. It was a nice reprieve and, for the first time in two weeks, he had a decent night’s sleep, uninterrupted by the invasive music.

Percy figured someone else had already complained about the music and his neighbor had stopped. It was blissful, getting to sleep through the night without the neighbor’s piano interrupting his dreams.

A couple of days later, the music started up again. Percy had just fallen asleep, already used the music having stopped, when the notes woke him from his slumber. The notes were soft, as though the other tenant was trying to practice as quietly as possible, knowing how late it was, but they were still enough to jar Percy from his sleep. Percy gave a groan and rolled over in bed, grabbing his pillow and clutching it over his ears.

He really needed to invest in earplugs if he couldn’t talk to his neighbor about his late night practice.

* * * * *

Despite attempts to ignore the music and buying earplugs - which he always forgot to wear, anyways - Percy still couldn’t sleep when his neighbor started playing. He left a note on his neighbor’s door, first asking politely for him to practice some other time, then a second note later, a little more aggressively; the words “hey jackass, some of us are trying to sleep!” may or may not have been written and it may or may not have made things worse.

The music changed, from the soft, slow tune that Percy could _eventually_ fall asleep in spite of it being played late, to a piece more active, louder, and much harder to fall asleep against. It seemed familiar, like a piece from a video game that Percy used to play before college and his part time job took up all of his free time. He couldn’t place the piece, but between the nagging familiarity and the rather spiteful tempo change from the previous quiet piece played before, Percy knew he wasn’t going to get to sleep any time soon.

He’d go over and yell, but it was already close to midnight and he was already in bed, curled up in his blankets. He was warm and unwilling to leave the comfort of his bed, even to tell his neighbor off. He’d leave another note in the morning.

* * * * *

At least, that had been the plan, but a phone call from Annabeth woke him in the morning and the two of them agreed to meet for breakfast. Percy had jumped at the chance to see her. Never mind how tired he was because his neighbor had been playing until the early hours of the morning, hanging out with his friend would more than make up for the lack of sleep and Percy’s morning grumpiness after a night of invasive piano practice.

Annabeth was one of his closest friends from way back when; they’d gone to the same camp, every summer from ages twelve to eighteen. They’d also briefly dated for about six months before deciding that the long-distance relationship between New York and California just wasn’t going to work out. With Annabeth’s family living in San Francisco and Percy’s family in Manhattan, the two of them only really meeting during the time at camp, it was too awkward and too distant; Skype calls and chat dates really didn’t compare to going out for coffee together. By the time Annabeth moved to New York to attend classes for her degree in architectural design, the flame of their relationship had burned out and they’d agreed to continue as friends.

Though they both attended New Athens University, a recently established university in Manhattan, with Annabeth in the architecture program and Percy studying marine-biology, they almost never saw each other. Their core classes were on opposite sides of the campus and the supplemental classes for their degrees were never the same. Little meet ups for breakfast or lunch were about what they could get in with their vastly different schedules before Percy had to head for the aquarium for work and Annabeth left for her next class.

Percy dressed quickly after hanging up the phone and grabbed his backpack, coat, and keys before heading out the door. He paused in the hallway and looked toward his neighbor’s closed door. The note he’d left the night before - the “hey jackass” one - had been ripped down, though there was still tape on the door and a scrap of paper still attached. There was a new note, though, not one of his; it was written on a piece of pink stationary with faint rose patterns. Percy stepped over and read the note, full of curiosity and a bit of satisfaction that maybe someone else in the building was getting tired of the late night piano practice.

The note read: _Hey, Nico! Your phone seems to be dead, so I’m leaving this note. I know you’re stressed about the end of term recitals (Will is too, though he won’t admit it), but could you maybe not practice so late? I’ve got a test coming up and I need to sleep! Love you, but I love my sleep, too! - Mitchell_

Two things stood out to Percy after reading the note and neither of them really had anything to do with his neighbor’s late-night playing; one, he finally had a name for the elusive neighbor, and two, his neighbor was apparently a student. That might explain part of the late-night playing, actually. If his neighbor’s schedule was anything like his, Percy might be a little more understanding of Nico’s practicing at odd hours.

Well, he _might_ have been, if it didn’t interrupt his sleep so much.

Putting thoughts of the elusive Nico and his late-night music aside, Percy headed out. He opted to take the bus to the campus, saving himself some time. While walking to the university on a bright Tuesday morning in May would normally be right up his alley, Percy wanted to get the cafe near the campus as soon as possible. He didn’t want to make Annabeth wait for him and walking would take much longer than catching the bus. There was a stop just across the street from the cafe they’d said they’d meet at anyways, so even if the bus was running a little late, Annabeth would be able to see him coming.

When Percy got to the cafe, Annabeth was already sitting at a table near the window. She had her blonde curls tied back in a loose bun while she studied the textbook laying on the table as she waited. A pencil was clenched between her teeth and her thin-framed reading glasses were precariously perched at the tip of her nose. She looked up when the bell on the door sounded, signalling the arrival of a new customer and smiled when she saw Percy.

“You look terrible,” she noted when he stepped over and took the seat across from her. “Did you stay up late studying?”

Percy shook his head. “No, my neighbor kept me up. Again.”

Now, Percy had complained to Annabeth before about his neighbor, so she knew more or less how long the problem had been going on. “I thought you were going to talk to him?”

“Yeah, well, I can’t really talk to a guy that’s never home.” Percy picked up the small menu on the table and looked it over before the waitress could come over for an order. He and Annabeth made their orders and soon got back to conversation. “I guess he’s a student, if the note one of our other neighbors is anything to judge by, so I kind of get it. He probably goes to school and then has a part time job, so he can’t practice most of the day. I _get_ that. What I don’t get is why he has to practice so late. Or why he doesn’t get like headphones or something. He’s probably got an electronic keyboard in there, so headphones would solve the problem.”

“Maybe he doesn’t like headphones,” Annabeth pointed out. “I don’t know much about keyboards and music, that’s more Malcolm’s thing, but I’d think the sound would be different through headphones.”

“If he’s going to practice late at night, he can still use headphones,” Percy countered. “It’d let him practice and let _me_ sleep!”

Annabeth rolled her eyes. Percy had told her all of this before, so she changed the subject. “Have you registered for next term yet?” she asked.

“This term doesn’t even end for another month,” Percy told her. “Then we’ve got a semester break. I have plenty of time to register for classes.” That was assuming that he got enough sleep to do well in the classes he was currently taking. If he failed any of his classes, he was going to blame his neighbor. “Bet you’re already registered.”

“Of course,” Annabeth replied. She closed her textbook as the waitress came over with their coffee, not wanting to spill any over her book. The cafe served dine-in coffee in handmade mugs from the art department at the university and the mugs were a very eclectic mix of tried-and-true traditional design and more modern designs, all in a range of colors. Annabeth’s was a hand-warmer mug in various shades of green and gold, filled to the brim with her cinnamon mocha with extra espresso shot. “I’m almost done with my degree. If I didn’t register early, the classes I need might fill up so I’d have to wait again and I’m not waiting another term to graduate because I waited too long to sign up.”

Percy gave a nod, only half paying attention. He loved Annabeth, she was his best friend, but this wasn’t the conversation he wanted to have at the moment. He was still tired from a night of restless sleep, interrupted by Nico’s practice and his own inability to relax. So he let Annabeth talk as they waited for the breakfast they’d ordered. Most of the time, she wasn’t bothered by it when Percy only paid half-attention to her; she appreciated the chance to just talk to him sometimes - it helped her process her thoughts and, sometimes when she was talking about a project she was working on, just talking to Percy would help her figure out something she’d been having trouble with, just saying it out loud to someone.

Of course, Percy did have to answer from time to time, in order to carry the conversation, but for the most part, he just liked letting Annabeth talk. Hanging out with her was enough for him. They kept up the conversation for a while, eating their breakfasts, drinking their coffees, and enjoying each other’s company, like they always had at camp. After they’d finished, Annabeth packed up her book and slung her bag over her shoulder and Percy grabbed his before the both headed to campus.

“So what are you going to do about your neighbor?” Annabeth asked as they walked to the university. “I know your focus in class gets worse if you don’t get enough sleep, so you really need to get in touch with him and come to some sort of understanding about his practice.” She gave a small frown. “Don’t any of your neighbors complain?”

“Mitchell, the guy downstairs, left a note complaining this morning,” Percy told her. He shook his head. “Other than that, no. Our floor only has four apartments - his, mine, Mrs. Nguyen’s, and an empty one. Mrs. Nguyen doesn’t complain because she can’t hear.”

Apparently, Nico’s late practice didn’t bother many others. Mitchell had never complained before, until Nico had deliberately started playing a louder piece. Percy wondered if they were just lucky enough that the space between floors was enough to block out the sound of his neighbor’s music, unlike the walls of the apartments. Then again, _of course_ , the piano would be set up on the wall opposite Percy’s bedroom.

“I think I’ll stake out in the hallway later tonight and see if I can catch him coming home,” Percy commented as they reached the science building of the university, right on the edge of campus. It was where most of Percy’s core classes were held and he had a study session with his lab partner before class that he should be getting to in a few minutes. “Maybe I can talk to him and convince him to practice another time or get headphones. He must be reasonable.”

“Good luck with that,” Annabeth told him. She shouldered her bag and turned to head towards the math building. “I’ll see you later, Percy. Thanks for meeting up with me!”

“Any time!”

As Annabeth left to head for her class, Percy went into the science building and made his way towards the classroom where he and his lab partner were supposed to meet for their study session. His partner had been absent the last lab day, so they’d booked the room for a catch up session. Once he got there and met up with his partner, the two of them were too busy working on the project they needed to work on for Percy to think of much of anything else.

* * * * *

Although he’d intended to stake out the hallway that night to wait for his neighbor to get home, Percy ended up getting home later than usual. There was an emergency lock-down at the aquarium after reports of a man-chase in the area. Employees were kept late, since the police weren’t letting anyone leave aquarium, since the guy they were looking for was reported to have run into the aquarium’s back end to hide out. A canine unit had gone through the entire aquarium grounds while employees and a squad of police ushered visitors out of the area.

By the time the guy was apprehended and all the excitement settled, Percy was exhausted. He caught a ride back to his apartment building with one of his co-workers, rather than have to deal with two bus transfers to get home. He usually went up the stairs to the fourth floor, but tonight, he trudged over to the elevator to take it up. All he wanted to do was heat up a frozen dinner to eat and go straight to bed.

But _of course_ , his neighbor was practicing. Percy could hear the music as soon as the elevator door opened. It wasn’t a piece that Percy recognized him playing before. This piece was upbeat, cheerful, bouncy - everything that Percy absolutely _did not want to hear_ after the evening he’d had at work. Notes echoed down the hall to Percy’s ears and it was the breaking point. Percy had had _enough_.

He snapped, storming over to his neighbor’s door and knocking hard. This was it. He was going to get his neighbor to listen to reason (though how reasonable Percy was actually going to be was up for debate). The late-night practice would stop, one way or another. The music ceased and, a few moments later, Percy heard the lock on the door click before it opened.

His original thoughts of yelling at his neighbor for the weeks of lost sleep and barely contained anger and annoyance flew out of his mind, replaced by a single thought as he finally first laid eyes on his neighbor.

_Oh no, he’s hot._

Nico was clearly a couple of years younger than Percy, probably no more than eighteen or nineteen. He was a little shorter than Percy, four inches or so, with messy black hair that was tied back in a short ponytail, though some fell loose to frame his face. Dressed in black jeans and a loose dark red t-shirt with a grunge cross design on the front, the teen was slender, surprisingly slight for a teenager. A pair of rectangle-framed glasses were propped over his lightly freckled nose, and dark brown eyes met Percy’s as Nico greeted him with a tired “Can I help you?” from dry lips.

Percy snapped out of the pause his neighbor’s appearance gave him. His previous anger had been effectively killed by his surprise at the fact that he was actually facing his neighbor and his neighbor happened to be very good-looking. He still managed to recover the reason he’d come over.

“Yeah, hi,” he told the teen. “I’m your neighbor, Percy Jackson.”

“The ‘hey, jackass’ guy?” Nico asked, scrunching his nose. His glasses slipped a fraction with the motion and he brought a pale olive hand up to push them back in place with a sigh. “Look, I know, practicing late is kind of a jerk move, but I don’t have any other time to practice yet.”

“Don’t you have headphones or something? Your piano’s set up right on the other side of the wall of my bedroom.”

Nico raised an eyebrow. “Is it?” He bit his lip, slightly crooked teeth sinking into soft flesh. “I can move it and see it that’ll help. But no, I don’t have headphones. Mine broke a few weeks ago and I haven’t gotten around to replacing them. I’m struggling to get my bills paid right now.”

“What about your parents? Can’t they help you?”

Nico shook his head. “My mom died years ago and my dad’s...not really around. I’m on my own.”

Percy deflated a little, hearing that. “Oh.” He felt a little guilty for being angry at his neighbor. He knew parental situations weren’t always great. His father had left before he was born and his mother had been married to an abusive man until Percy was twelve. His second - and current - step-father was great, though; he’d even helped Percy find and put down his first payment for the apartment he was living in. From the sound of it, Nico wasn’t nearly as lucky as Percy was. “Sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s alright.” Nico shrugged. He reached up, tucking his hair behind his ear. “About the late-night practice, I’m sorry. I have juries at the end of the term I need to practice for, but I can stop for tonight. I’ll ask Will if he has a spare set of headphones tomorrow, so I don’t bother you anymore.”

Percy gave a nod. “I’d appreciate it. I have to be at campus early tomorrow and a decent night’s sleep would be great.”

“Sorry. Again.” Nico leaned against the frame of his door. “My hours at work are getting changed next week, so I’ll be able to practice much earlier, so you won’t be bothered when I’m practicing without headphones.”

“Thanks.” Percy started to turn away, the reason he’d stormed over covered, but he paused and turned back. “You’re a student, right? Where do you go to classes?”

Nico paused, like he hadn’t expected the question. “New Athens University,” he replied. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Actually, I think I recognize you. You’re in the lab class next to my physics class. I’ve seen you at noon, when we get out.”

Percy gave a slight frown. “Really? I’ve never seen you.” If he’d known his neighbor had been going to school at the same time he was, in the classroom next to his, maybe they could have gotten this issue settled a long time ago. Thinking on ifs and maybes wouldn’t be any help now; Nico had already promised to tone down the practice. “Are you busy after class tomorrow?”

Nico shook his head. “I’ve got an hour break before I have to go to my next class. I usually get lunch after.”

“Same,” Percy told him. He gave a small smile, trying to be friendly now that they’d addressed the antagonism between them. “Want to join me tomorrow?”

The other boy shrugged. “Sure.” He pushed himself from the doorframe and let his hands slip into his jeans pockets. “Shouldn’t you go to bed? It’s almost midnight.”

Percy checked his watch instinctively when Nico pointed out the time and, sure enough, it was five minutes to twelve. If he was going to get any sleep before he had to be up for class, he really needed to get in bed. “Yeah, okay. I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch.”

Nico nodded and headed back inside his apartment, closing the door behind him. Percy headed for his own apartment and went inside, dropping his bag to the floor just inside the door before heading for the kitchen. He decided it was far too late to deal with a frozen dinner, so he raided his refrigerator for leftovers, not even bothering to heat up the remains of a pasta meal he’d had a couple of days ago before heading to his room. All the while, he listened to the quiet of the floor; Nico was, so far, keeping his promise to stop practicing that night.

Sliding into bed, Percy ate his cold dinner and left the dishes on the table beside his bed when he was finished before laying down, pulling the blankets up to his chest. Through the wall, he could hear Nico moving around in his apartment. Percy held his breath, hoping that the teen wasn’t about to start playing his piano. Listening for a few minutes, Percy heard a few thumps and thuds, and that was it. He wondered if Nico was actually moving the piano, as he’d said he would.

In spite of the annoyance and anger he’d felt towards his neighbor over the past few weeks because of the late-night practice and in spite of his relief that Nico had promised to cut back on said practice, when Percy fell asleep, he dreamt of Nico playing. The thin fingers that had seemed so pale when Nico had his arms crossed over his chest earlier were dark against stark white keys as they all but danced over the keyboard in Percy’s dream. The melody playing in his head wasn’t anything Percy immediately recognized - likely something he’d heard in the background of a movie or something - but he wasn’t exactly paying attention to the music, captivated as he was by the brown eyes just peeking behind long lashes and Nico’s head tipped down while he played.

If Percy’s dreams had been invaded by his neighbor’s music before their talk, he might have woken up irritated, but Percy was oddly soothed when he woke up in the morning - save for the morning stiffness.

* * * * *

“Don’t forget the study guide for the final is up online,” Dr. Bythos told his class as they finished their lab session. “It’s never too early to start studying. We’ve got some serious science to cover on the final and if you’re not prepared to study your asses off for it, you’re not going to pass.”

Percy stuffed his books into his backpack as his classmates started filtering out of the room. Most of them were only paying half-attention to their professor as he warned them of his notoriously difficult final coming up. It was still a few weeks until the final, but Percy had had Dr. Bythos before and knew not to underestimate the upcoming test. Sometimes he debated whether going into marine biology was a good idea or not, with how difficult the classes were for him - between his dyslexia and ADHD, Percy struggled to keep up with his classes from time to time, but that was the reason tutoring centers were in place around the school.

Shouldering his bag, Percy headed out of the classroom and caught sight of Nico waiting in the hallway. The younger student was leaning against the wall, arms crossed and head tucked down, eyes closed as he listened to music from his iPod. Percy approached him, reaching out and lightly tapping the teen’s shoulder to get his attention. Nico gave a small jump, eyes opening, and jerking away from the touch before realizing it was Percy and relaxing again. Percy blinked in surprise, having not expected that kind of reaction from Nico, but didn’t press the matter by questioning him about it.

“You ready to go?” he asked instead. At Nico’s nod as the teen pulled his iPod out of his pocket to stop his music. Percy gestured for the other teen to follow him. "C'mon."

Percy led Nico off campus to a small shop a couple of blocks away. It was one of his favorite places to have lunch, run by a young couple that he knew. Though he was significantly younger than Grover, Percy had been good friends with the man, whose wife, Juniper, had often baby-sat Percy while his mother was working. Grover had always been glad to hang out with Percy, who helped him feel less nervous as the years went on, until Grover and Juniper had moved out of the apartment complex they’d all lived in and opened the shop - Pan’s Wilderness. It was a vegetarian café, serving breakfast and lunch and, for all it was a small shop and Percy wasn’t really a vegetarian himself, the food was great and the atmosphere friendly.

Perfect, really, for getting to know the surprisingly calm and very cute young neighbor Percy had finally met. As they took a table, Percy gave Nico a smile, ready to strike up a conversation. He decided to keep it simple and stuck to the subject of school.

“So what’s your major?” he asked, reaching for a menu. “You said you had juries at the end of the quarter. Are you a music major?”

Nico shook his head. “History major,” he replied. “I’m taking the piano courses to supplement my degree and it helps with work.”

“You play for a living?”

“Kind of,” Nico replied. He picked up his own menu, scanning it for his choice. “I work part time at the campus bookstore, but I’ve got a job at a private bar right now, too.” He paused when one of the servers came over and asked about drink orders, making his order for a glass of Coke, no ice, before making his lunch order as well. “I’m just taking the extra piano courses to keep up my repertoire.”

Percy gave a small, embarrassed laugh. “And here I am getting pissed off at you for practicing for your job.”

Nico shrugged. “To be fair, you didn’t know and I was...kind of being a jackass on purpose after you left the note. I tried to keep as quiet as I could at first.” He reached for the little porcelain bin the sugar packets were kept in, idly letting his fingers shuffle the packets. “And I moved the piano last night, so maybe that will help.”

“I was wondering. I heard you moving around.”

Nico nodded. “Yeah. I figured I better move it while I was thinking about it so I didn’t forget.”

“How long have you been playing?” Percy asked. Now that he and Nico were on talking terms, he was actually pretty curious about the teen. Not to mention there was also that bit of attraction he’d felt when Nico first opened the door the previous night; and the dream hadn’t helped that matter. “I don’t know much about pianos or music, but you sound like you’re pretty good.”

“I’m good enough to make decent pay,” Nico replied. He scrunched his nose slightly in thought. “I’ve been playing since I was twelve. I kind of...stopped for a while after my sister died, but I picked it up again in high school.”

“Oh.” Percy was sure it wasn’t his place to ask about Nico’s sister, but he caught a flash of sadness in the younger man’s eyes when Nico mentioned her death. Whatever had happened, it must still affect him. Percy decided to change the subject, asking Nico about his major.

Nico was quite fond of history, it turned out. While they were waiting for lunch, Nico talked while Percy listened and Percy soon realized that Nico got the same twinkle in his eyes talking about history as Annabeth did when she was talking about architecture. He’d thought that was cute about Annabeth, really, and it was oddly just as cute about Nico. Percy couldn’t help watching Nico as the teen spoke - Nico’s hands moved in quick, precise gestures and, as he continued, his speech got a little faster, a soft Italian lilt to his voice.

The two of them ate lunch when it arrived and Percy found himself wanting to hang out with Nico some more. As he went up to pay the bill, he considered asking Nico to join him the next day. Maybe they could make it a daily thing, just meeting up at lunch. It sounded like a good idea to him and if Nico was alright with it, he didn’t see any reason why they couldn’t. After paying, he went back to Nico and asked about lunch the next day.

“I have a different schedule tomorrow,” Nico replied, though he gave a bit of an apologetic shrug. “I have class straight until 2:00 tomorrow, then it’s straight to my other job before I play at the bar. My schedule’s not the same as today until Friday.”

“Then how about Friday we meet up for lunch?” Percy asked.

A small smile crossed Nico’s lips and, in spite of himself, Percy felt his heart skip a beat. “Yeah, okay.”

Percy smiled back at him. “Great!”

The two of them left the café and went their separate ways - Percy heading for his apartment to get ready to leave for his job and Nico returning to campus for his next class. Percy waved to the younger man as Nico walked off, then shouldered his bag and headed down the street, looking forward to hanging out with Nico again.

 

 


	2. Adagio

Over the next couple of weeks, Nico kept his word that the late-night practice would stop, Percy got his full nights of sleep, and every other day, the two of them met up for lunch. Annabeth joined them a couple of times, getting the chance to meet Percy’s elusive neighbor and the two of them got along pretty well, talking to each other about history - Annabeth’s father was a historian, so she knew quite a bit and Nico easily kept up with her, soon asking if she could get him in contact with her father for further discussion. Percy couldn’t help being pleased that his friends got along.

Nico’s hours at the bookstore had been changed around, a couple of days after he and Percy first talked, giving the younger student more time to practice at home during the day before he went to work at the bar - a high-class bar called The Labyrinth. Percy occasionally ran into him in the apartment building lobby, when Nico was heading out to the bar to play and Percy was just getting home from the aquarium. They’d shoot a smile at each other, wave as they passed, the usual neighborly thing friends did when they ran into each other.

Admittedly, Percy might have checked the younger man out a little as Nico left the building, dressed in a rather well-fitted black suit, trimmed in red and accented with a black silk tie. He was carrying a shoulder bag that Percy could only guess carried sheet music. The suit looked good on Nico, Percy noted, and Nico looked _fantastic_ in the suit.

And if Percy dreamt of Nico in that suit, of carefully taking that suit _off_ him, well...Percy wasn’t exactly going to broadcast _that_.

One Friday night, the weekend before finals, Nico came home late from The Labyrinth. Percy had been up late, going over the study guide for the final for Dr. Bythos’ class and was taking a break from studying to get a bottle of water and one of the blue chocolate chip cookies his mother had brought over for him - Sally Jackson was a gift to the world and her college-age son, who still barely understood how to do his own laundry and loved it when his mother brought over cookies to encourage him to keep up the good work. It was while Percy was in the kitchen that he heard the bell on the elevator ding and, a minute later, there was a knock on his door.

Percy opened the door and found Nico standing there. The younger man looked exhausted, shaking slightly, his tie out of place, the top button of his shirt undone, and - to Percy’s shock and anger - a small set of bruises on Nico’s neck.

Fingerprints.

“What happened?” he asked, concern coloring his voice as he reached out to Nico.

Nico flinched away from Percy’s hand, much as he had when Percy had surprised him in the hallway the first day they’d gone to lunch together. “It’s nothing. I just need a place to crash. I forgot my keys at work.”

Percy frowned, clearly not happy with Nico brushing the bruises off as _nothing_ , but he didn’t feel like it was really his place to push the younger man for answers. So, instead, he just gave a nod and gestured for Nico to come inside. Nico gave a grateful nod and, after looking briefly over his shoulder, stepped inside Percy’s apartment.

“Make yourself at home,” Percy told the younger man. “I’m studying in the living room, so...I guess you can take the bedroom if you want to get some sleep. You look like you need it.”

Nico shook his head. “I’m not tired.”

Percy figured Nico would argue if he tried to point out the dark circles under the teen’s eyes and the way the other’s eyes were half-lidded. He watched Nico cross the living room, drop his bag to the floor, and slump down into the large comfortable chair Percy had set up next to the couch, where Percy had been studying, his textbook, notebook, and study guide on the coffee table nearby. Nico kicked off the dress shoes he wore and brought his feet up, curling up into a ball that couldn’t be comfortable in the form-fitting suit he wore.

Percy sighed and headed to his room. He slipped inside, grabbed a spare pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt that was oversized on him and would likely engulf Nico, but it’d still be more comfortable than the suit, at least. He also grabbed a spare blanket from his closet and brought everything out to the living room, draping it over the arm of the chair Nico was curled up in.

“Our apartments are probably identical, so you know where the bathroom is,” Percy told him when Nico looked up at him. “You can change and clean up in there. Are you hungry?”

Nico gave a small nod. “Something to eat would be nice.” He stood up and picked up the pajamas that Percy had brought him before heading for the bathroom. “Thanks, Percy.”

“It’s not a problem,” Percy replied. He headed back to the kitchen to see what he could find for Nico.

Getting pretty hungry himself - dinner seemed hours ago - Percy wound up making a box of mac and cheese. It was quick, it was simple, it was pretty good comfort food, and he figured both of them needed a bit of comfort food. Whatever had happened to Nico, there was no way the younger man was well. Percy had the water boiling on the stove and was dumping the macaroni shells into the pot when he heard the door to the bathroom open again.

Nico’s footsteps were soft, but Percy heard them follow the hallway to the kitchen. They stopped as Nico stood in the entrance to the kitchen, leaning against the side. Percy turned to look at him and noted the way his shirt - one size too big on him as it was and a couple of sizes too big on the smaller teen - hung just at mid-thigh on Nico, who’d skipped the pajama bottoms, apparently.

“Sorry about...my reaction at the door,” Nico told him. He crossed his arms over his chest and let his shoulder brace himself against the side of the kitchen entrance. “It hasn’t been a good night.”

“Trouble at work?”

Nico gave a nod. His hair, free from the ponytail he usually kept it in, brushed over his shoulders, just long enough to slightly curl at his neck. The dark strands framing his pale olive skin brought attention to the bruises still on his neck and it took all Percy had not to demand who hurt the younger man. After all, he was just Nico’s neighbor and the guy he hung out with. They were casual friends, Percy was certain, and it wasn’t his job to demand anything.

Instead, he calmly asked if Nico wanted to talk about it as he checked the macaroni.

At first, Nico stayed silent, his arms tightening across his chest. It was a few moments before he spoke, while Percy turned the burner on the stove off to finish the macaroni.

“The owner of The Labyrinth is...kind of a creep,” Nico explained. He pushed himself from the doorframe and stepped over to the refrigerator, gesturing to it in a wordless query if he could get something from it. At Percy’s nod, he opened the refrigerator, pulled out a can of Coke, and popped it open, taking a slow sip before continuing. “Ever since he hired me to play the piano for the snobs that come to the bar, he’s been making moves on me. I haven’t complained because, well...it’s a decent job. I keep most of my tips. And who do I complain to when it’s the owner that’s creeping me out?”

“The police, maybe?” Percy suggested.

Nico gave a snort. “Yeah, right. The police won’t do anything because a bar owner’s flirting with one of his employees.” He shook his head. “I’ve just been brushing him off, letting him say what he wants. I don’t want to lose this job.”

“But you shouldn’t have to deal with this guy being a creep,” Percy pointed out. He frowned and continued working on the macaroni, stirring in the cheese sauce, needing to do _something_ to keep himself occupied and from going out there to track down this bar owner. The urge to confront the guy was less from Percy’s budding feelings for Nico (which he wouldn’t deny if asked about) and more out of a sense of justice than anything else. “No one should have to deal with guys like that.”

Nico didn’t say anything for a long moment, dropping his gaze and letting his head hang so his hair fell over his face. “It’s just for a little while longer,” he told Percy. “I’m looking for another job, so I can get away from him.”

“Is he…” Percy paused to gesture to the bruises on Nico’s throat. “Did he do that to you?”

Nico’s slim hand came up to his neck, lightly touching at the bruises as he bit his lip. “Yeah. I told him to back off tonight. He didn’t like it. He grabbed me and told me he’d fire me if I acted out.” The younger man swallowed audibly. “Then he kissed me.”

Percy’s anger flared up, heat boiling up from the pit of his stomach. “Nico, you need to report him. That’s sexual harassment.”

“I can’t lose this job, Percy,” Nico countered. He shook his head. “I can’t afford my apartment just on what I’m paid at the bookstore. I have to keep this job until I can find something else or I won’t be able to live here.”

Percy gave a frown, inwardly debating what he could do to help Nico. While he was pretty sure Nico only considered him a casual friend because they were neighbors, Percy still thought of the teen as his friend and wanted to help. He just wasn’t sure how. He could afford his apartment because his job paid well and he’d been saving up for a couple of years before he’d moved out, so he had a comfortable niche to work with to pay rent if he needed to dip into it.

“If it comes to it, you can move in with me,” Percy suggested. Really, rent would be easier to pay if the two of them split the cost and Percy wouldn’t mind sharing his apartment. Besides, if it got Nico out of the situation with the bar owner, he’d be more than willing to help him. He really didn’t like the idea of Nico having to deal with some gross guy harassing him, just to keep his job. “If you want to, that is.”

Nico looked at Percy, his dark eyes falling on the older man. For a moment, he didn’t reply. Then he ducked his head again. “I’ll...think about it.”

Percy gave a nod and left the subject at that while he grabbed a couple of bowls from the cabinet, dishing up the mac and cheese before splitting the pot between the two of them, handing one bowl to Nico. “C’mon. If you’re not sleepy, I can turn on the TV.”

Nico followed Percy back to the living room, taking his spot in the chair again as Percy returned to the couch. Percy grabbed the remote from its spot on the coffee table, near his now abandoned study materials, and flipped on the TV, going through a few channels before settling on Cartoon Network. The two of them watched cartoons as they ate their late-night mac and cheese in silence. Nico mostly picked at his, taking small bites here and there, but eventually setting his bowl down, only half-eaten, on the coffee table, then curled up on the chair.

Silence continued between them for a long while, the cartoons on the television making up for the lack of words between Percy and Nico. Percy occasionally glanced at Nico, noting how the younger man stayed curled up against himself, looking so much younger than the nineteen years that Percy had eventually found out Nico was. There was a softness in Nico’s face as he stared listlessly at the television screen and Percy had to wonder if Nico had been forced to grow up too soon, that he didn’t know how to handle the problems he was facing.

He wondered what he could do to help. Percy knew, from the conversations they’d had since coming to good terms with each other, that Nico had lived alone since he was sixteen, legally emancipated after his older sister had died. Sixteen years old and alone - Percy could barely imagine that; he’d moved out at twenty, once he was secure at his job and knew he was ready to move out. Nico hadn’t had that choice. It was either get emancipated and live on his own or go into foster care until he was eighteen. That kind of life, having no one to fall back on, was something Percy could never deal with and Nico had led that lonely life for three years already.

Maybe it was just a sense of heroism inside him, but Percy didn’t want Nico to have to deal with that, if there was something that he could do to help the younger man. He didn’t want Nico to have no one to help him, didn’t want him to have to deal with the creepy boss that continuously made unwanted moves on him, didn’t want him having to struggle to stay on his feet and keep his apartment. He was determined to help, however he could, and he turned towards Nico, ready to say so -

\- only to find that Nico had moved closer. The younger man had left the chair and moved to the couch next to Percy while he was pre-occupied with his thoughts. It surprised Percy, to be honest, as he’d had no idea that Nico had moved, hadn’t heard or seen him move, but suddenly Nico was there next to him.

“Nico?”

The teen’s eyes were on Percy and his lips were pulled half back into his mouth, set in a firm, but nervous line. “I’m sorry, Percy,” Nico told him. He ducked his head, his long black bangs falling into his face. “I’ve been nothing but a pain for you since I moved in, but...you have no idea how much I appreciate you helping me tonight.”

“You’re not a pain,” Percy told him. He may have started out thinking so, but getting to know Nico since that first confrontation had changed Percy’s mind; he liked Nico, had a lot more understanding for the younger student. Nico was his friend. “I want to help you, if you’ll let me.”

Nico hesitated, so clearly not used to asking for help, much less having it offered without prompting. “I don’t know why you’d want to, I’m just - ”

“Nico.”

Percy reached out, his hand sliding gently under Nico’s chin and tipping his face up. Nico’s eyes were bloodshot, presumably from the sting of the tears he refused to let fall or from the exhaustion he undoubtedly felt from a long day that was getting longer by the minute. As close as they were at the moment, Percy could see a ring of burnished gold around the pupils of Nico’s otherwise dark brown eyes.

“I want to help you because I like you, Nico. You’re - ”

Nico didn’t give him the chance to finish, leaning in and cutting him off with a kiss. The teen’s lips were soft against Percy’s, as though he was unsure of the kiss, but Percy brought his hands to his hips and pulled Nico closer and the kiss deepened. Lips parted as they both shifted on the couch, Percy laying back against the arm behind him as Nico slid over him, straddling him and leaning in to keep kissing him. The kiss only broke for a brief moment as they each took a breath, then kissed again.

Percy made sure Nico controlled everything, not willing to push the younger man’s boundaries, especially when Nico had already dealt with having his personal space violated once that night. Every kiss was led by Nico, Percy asked twice if he was okay with being touched and Nico nodded. His hands slid up and under the over-sized shirt he’d loaned Nico, fingers lightly teasing bare skin underneath. Nico gasped quietly against Percy’s lips and Percy could feel the younger man’s stomach flutter under his touch as he smoothed his hands up Nico’s torso, dragging the shirt up as his hands moved, and slowly exposing Nico’s body, inch by inch.

Nico’s hips rolled against him as they kissed and Percy gave a low groan as he pulled the shirt off the younger man, tossing it aside before leaning up and pressing his lips against Nico’s neck. He kissed a slow line over the teen’s skin, brushing his lips lightly against the bruises Nico sported, as if he could just kiss them away. He heard Nico sigh, the soft noise sending a shiver down Percy’s spine as he pulled him closer. Encouraged by Nico’s reactions, Percy continued to kiss him, hot breath against warming olive skin as he sat up to shift their positions.

After a moment, Percy had Nico laying back and he moved over him, letting his kisses trail down the younger man’s body, taking a brief pause to flick his tongue against one of Nico’s nipples. Nico rewarded his actions with a moan and his hands burying in Percy’s hair. Repeating the ministration had Nico’s fingers tightening in his hair and another, louder moan escaping the teen as Nico’s body arched beneath him. The way Nico’s body moved had their hips grinding together and Percy rocked his hips back at the younger man, eliciting more pleasured noises from Nico.

“P-Percy, should we - ?” Nico’s question was cut off with a groan as Percy’s hands moved to grip at his hips, pulling him closer to the older man. He recovered a moment later, sucking in a breath. “S-should we move to - ”

His question was interrupted a second time as a door slammed. Both of them stopped their movements and looked towards the entrance hallway. Heavy footsteps could be heard moving around and voices, though muffled by the walls, could be heard in the apartment corridor.

“That was your apartment door,” Percy murmured. He felt Nico sink into the couch below him, the younger man shuddering a moment later. “You said you left your keys at work?”

Nico hesitated, then shook his head. “My boss took them from me.”

Percy gave a frown and started to move away from Nico, but the younger man reached out and took hold of his arm. “Nico, we need to call the police. They’re trespassing and your boss assaulted you.”

Nico shook his head. “Just let them. They won’t be there long. They’re looking for me. They won’t find me there because I’m here.” He shifted under Percy, heaving a sigh and bringing his arms up to cover his face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to get you involved.”

Percy’s frown deepened. “Nico, you’re my friend,” he told the younger man. He gestured between them, at how Nico was now shirtless and hard beneath Percy. “Maybe a little more than my friend, if this says anything to you. _Of course_ I’m going to get involved when you’re being _harassed_ _at work_ and having your apartment _broken into_.”

He moved to get up again, reaching for his cellphone, which was sitting on the coffee table with his forgotten textbook and notes. He was just starting to dial before he heard a melodious tone echoing in the apartment, emanating from the bag Nico had dropped by the chair he’d previously occupied. Nico got up and crossed the short distance to the chair and sat down as he picked up his bag and hit the answer key on his phone.

From the couch, Percy could hear both sides of the conversation, recognizing Mitchell’s voice over the receiver from the few times he’d talked to the young man who lived one floor down from them.

_“Nico, are you alright?”_ came the other man’s worried voice. _“I saw those creeps heading for the elevator with your keys. I recognized your keychain. You’re not home, are you?”_

“I’m fine, Mitchell,” Nico replied, keeping his voice down. It was better to keep quieter, just to make certain the intruders in his apartment next door wouldn’t hear him. “I’m at Percy’s. I figured Minos would send someone when he took my keys.”

_“Thank gods.”_ Percy could hear the relief in Mitchell’s voice. _“Will’s insisting on calling the police.”_

Nico gave a nod, though Mitchell wouldn’t see it. “Yeah, so is Percy. I don’t want the cops involved.”

“Not an option,” Percy told him, interrupting the conversation. He still had his phone in his hand, ready to finish dialing. “Those guys are intruding and your boss - ”

_“Is that Percy? Nico, he’s right, we need to call the police. This isn’t the first time Minos has pulled a stunt like this - ”_

Percy gave a frown at that. “He’s done something before?”

Nico lifted his head, eyes meeting Percy’s, and matching the other man’s frown with one of his own. It was clear that Nico did not want to talk about it and it took all Percy had to keep reminding himself that it wasn’t his place to be Nico’s hero. They were both adults and Nico had been taking care of himself since sixteen; he didn’t need Percy to save him - help him, sure, but Nico didn’t need Percy sweeping him off his feet and coddling him. So he didn’t push the matter after Nico turned back to the phone with Mitchell.

After a few more minutes of reassuring Mitchell that he was fine, insisting that neither Mitchell nor Will called the police, and promising to check in with them in the morning, Nico hung up the phone. Next door, they could still hear the intruders moving around in Nico’s apartment. There was an occasional crash that sounded through the wall, which made Nico cringe and Percy’s temper flare. Percy continued to try to convince Nico to let him call the police, but to no avail.

“Calling the police will only make things worse for me,” Nico told him. He reached for the shirt Percy had pulled off him earlier and tugged it back on. He’d been down to his boxers long enough and, with the interruptions, there was little chance of them continuing what they’d started. Nico heaved a sigh and leaned back against the chair he’d returned to again. “If the cops get involved and Minos finds out it was because of me, I’ll lose my job for sure.”

“Nico, this job can’t be worth harassment and your apartment being trashed.”

“I _know_ , Percy.” Nico sighed, bringing his knees up to his chest, crossing his arms and resting them over his knees before dropping his head against his arms. “It’s really not. But it’s the only job I could get to supplement my income enough to go to school _and_ live here. The pay’s really good, the tips are good. I can’t get that in a lot of places. I got so lucky with this job.”

“You say that while your boss’ goons are stomping around next door,” Percy pointed out.

Nico groaned. “I know what’s going on over there. They trashed my last place, too. The landlord kicked me out because of Asterion and Androgeus. I moved here and hoped that, if I didn’t make a big deal again, like I did last time, maybe I could last at the job until I found something else.”

At least Percy knew what Mitchell had meant when he’d said that Minos had pulled something like this before. Mitchell, he knew, was Nico’s best friend, having seen the two of them hanging out when Percy wasn’t hanging out with Nico. Of course Mitchell would know more about Nico’s situation than Percy did; he’d clearly known Nico longer, knew him better. It made sense that Nico would turn to Mitchell, but Percy wanted to be able to offer his help, too.

“So what are you going to do?” Percy asked, after a long moment of silence.

Nico shrugged and uncurled from the position he’d put himself in, letting himself relax with a deep breath. “Keep looking for a new job. Lay low for a while. Worry about my juries. I’ve got to perform at the recital on Thursday.”

“For your finals?”

“Yeah.”

Percy managed a small smile, trying to lighten the mood and distract Nico from the harder subject they’d been talking about.. “That’s got to be nerve-wracking.”

“Almost as much as having your boss’ thuggish sons trashing your apartment like bulls in a glass shop while you’re hiding out in your hot neighbor’s apartment next door.” Nico shot a slight grin back at Percy.

Percy’s smile widened. “So you think I’m hot?”

“Are you kidding? I made out with you, I’d think that would be your first clue.”

“It’s not every day my hot neighbor makes out with me,” Percy pointed out. He scooted over to the other end of the couch, closer to Nico. “It might have gone over my head.”

Nico gave a small laugh. “Might have.”

Percy leaned over the arm of the couch, closer to again to the younger man. “Anything else that might’ve gone over my head?”

Another soft laugh escaped Nico and he sat forward, leaning towards Percy with that slight grin back on his lips. “Maybe. Let me give you a hint.”

Leaning across the gap between the furniture, Nico kissed Percy again, slow and gentle, unlike the first kiss they shared. It was a short kiss, followed by another and another, a small series of teasing light kisses to ease the tension they were both still feeling. Percy reached for Nico’s hand, running his fingers over the teen’s fingers as they kissed. He felt Nico shiver and heard a quiet gasp escape between their lips as his thumb smoothed over Nico’s knuckles. Sliding the pad of his thumb along Nico’s middle finger, bumping over the silver skull ring the teen wore before following the line of Nico’s finger to the tip.

Nico gave a soft noise and pulled his hand out of Percy’s hold and brought it up to slip behind Percy’s neck, his fingers teasing at the short hairs at the nape before combing into the older man’s hair as he kissed Percy deeper. He moved a moment later from the chair and to Percy’s lap, straddling him easily and bringing his other hand to grip at Percy’s hip.

The only reason they stopped kissing at all was because of the stomps next door. Asterion and Androgeus were apparently done with their task, both of them laughing as they left Nico’s apartment. Percy held onto Nico’s hips to keep the younger man on his lap as Nico shifted so he could turn his head towards Percy’s door, watching warily, as though he was worried that the two thugs would bust in and find him there.

After a moment, they heard the elevator ding and, a few moments after that, nothing but silence. Eventually, from the window facing the street on the other side of the living room, they could hear the sound of an engine turning over and a car speed off into the night. Nico was still tense as he stayed in place on Percy’s lap for a while, though he dropped his head to tuck it against Percy’s shoulder.

“Do you want to go over and see what the damage is?” Percy asked.

Nico shook his head. “Not right now. Maybe in the morning.” He lifted his head and pulled away from Percy. “I think I’d rather sleep this off.”

Percy gave a nod of understanding and let go of Nico’s hips. “Why don’t you take the bed?” he suggested. “It’s a lot more comfortable than the couch and you look like you need a few really good hours of sleep.”

“ _Wonderful_ compliments you give, Jackson.”

Percy shook his head, giving a roll of his eyes. “Just go to bed. I’ll stay out here.”

“You finally get me in your bed and you’re not even joining me?” Nico asked, giving a sly grin.

Percy picked up his pen from the coffee table and tossed it playfully at Nico. The teen laughed and slipped around the corner into the hallway towards Percy’s room. Percy shook his head again and started to clear off the coffee table, closing his textbook and stacking everything before pushing the table further from the couch so he could set up for the night. He grabbed the blanket he’d brought in for Nico earlier and turned the lights off before stretching out on the couch.

It would be a while before he could sleep, though. Although he was worried about Nico and the situation the younger man was in with his boss, what he couldn’t stop thinking of was the kisses he and Nico had shared, the soft noises that the teen had made, and how good it had felt when Nico’s hips had moved against his while they’d kissed. In spite of the seriousness of Nico’s situation, Percy couldn’t help wondering what would have happened if the other man’s apartment hadn’t been invaded.

Percy had found the teen attractive the first moment they met, that night just weeks ago, when he’d come home exhausted and nearly snapped at his neighbor. That attraction he’d felt led to many dreams of kissing Nico, of exploring the younger man’s body, drawing elicit moans from him. Surprising how much just a few weeks could inspire such desires.

Then Nico had kissed him and those desires had flared to life, ignited by the other man’s kiss better than any dream had ever done. And although they’d stopped with the interruption from Asterion and Androgeus, the desire was still burning lowly within Percy, like embers that kept burning after the fire had died down. Percy would have to deal with his desire the same way he’d been doing; he brought his hand beneath the blanket and slipped it into the pajama pants he wore.


	3. Scherzo

Nico’s keys were on the floor of the corridor, apparently dropped by one of the thugs that had come the previous night. His apartment door was wide open and both of them could see the mess inside just from the corridor. Nico took in a deep breath and then went into his apartment, Percy right behind him. Papers, books, DVDs, and CDs were scattered on the floor, glasses and dishes, a few ceramic pieces, had shattered over the floor when they’d been knocked down. Peeking into the kitchen, they could see that the refrigerator was open, no doubt whatever food inside that hadn’t been eaten by Asterion and Androgeus had gone bad after several hours.

“Anything missing?” Percy asked after a few moments as Nico headed further in.

“Yeah,” came the younger man’s reply. “My TV’s gone. So is my laptop. Thank gods I write all my assignments on Google Docs. I don’t have to start over.”

Percy gave a frown and started picking up some of the stuff that had been thrown around while Nico continued looking around. His arms were full of books and DVDs when he heard Nico curse loudly from the other side of the apartment. He dropped everything on the table in the living room and moved to find Nico.

“What is it?”

Nico was sitting on his bed, his hands covering his face as he slouched. “They took my keyboard,” he groaned. There was a distinct tone of heartbreak in his voice. “Bianca got me that keyboard. It was one of the last things she got me before she died.”

Percy felt the anger from the previous night flare up again. It was bad enough Nico was being harassed, bad enough that Minos had sent his sons to trash Nico’s apartment, but now something important to Nico had been taken.

“I’m sorry, Nico.”

Nico shook his head and shifted, reaching into the pocket of the jeans Percy had loaned him and pulling out his phone. “This is my own fault,” he told Percy. “I should have let you or Will and Mitchell call the police. I can’t keep letting Minos control me like this.” He dialed and brought his phone up to his ear, waiting for the other end to pick up. “This has to end.”

Percy stayed with Nico as he spoke to the dispatcher. He stayed when an officer arrived to assess the damage and take a report. Because he’d had Nico over while the younger man’s apartment was being trashed, he gave the officer his own story for what had happened, backing Nico up with his confirmation of what the teen said happened. The officer wrote out the report and informed Nico that they’d let him know if they could get anything back before leaving.

Nico heaved a sigh once the officer left and sat down on the couch in his living room. His hands ran through his hair as he pushed it back away from his face. “When I get to work tonight, I’ll put in my two weeks’ notice.”

“You’re still going to go there?” Percy asked.

“I have to,” Nico pointed out. “Leaving my job on my own terms is better than being fired for not showing up. Besides, a couple more weeks of tips wouldn’t hurt.”

Percy sighed through his nose, his lips pulled into a skeptical frown, but he ultimately decided to let the subject go. Nico could handle a few more shifts at the bar. Once again, Percy had to remind himself that it was not his job to coddle Nico or try to keep him from making his own decisions. He would help where he could, but it was ultimately up to Nico to decide what to do about his boss, his job, his life.

Moving over to sit next to Nico, Percy put his hand on the younger man’s back. “Alright. I have to go in to work in a little while and I won’t be off until midnight. I’ll keep my phone with me and on if you need me, okay?”

Nico nodded. He lifted his head and gave Percy a small, grateful smile. “Thanks, Percy. I really appreciate it.”

“Hey, any time.” Percy returned the small smile with one of his own and let his hand slide away from Nico before standing up. “I’ll see you later.”

Nico gave another nod and lifted one slender hand to half-wave as Percy left. Percy closed the door behind him and hadn’t really gotten far before he heard the lock on the door click. At least Nico was taking precautions. Giving a quiet sigh, Percy returned to his apartment to get ready for work. He had a longer shift that day, since the aquarium was reserved for a private party after normal hours. After changing into his work uniform, he grabbed his phone and slipped it into his pocket. Technically, employees weren’t supposed to keep their phones on their person during their shifts, but it was important for Percy to keep in touch with Nico after the previous night’s incident.

He just hoped that, if Nico called, it wouldn’t be because Minos or his goon sons had returned.

* * * * *

Nico sent Percy a text around two that afternoon, just to inform him that he was heading off to the school campus for a couple of hours to see if he could get time with one of the practice pianos in the music building. It was just a quick check-in, more to make sure that someone knew where Nico was, and that he’d text again before heading to work. If, for any reason, no one heard from him again, they could assume the worst and call the police. Percy wasn’t really pleased at the thought that it was actually necessary for Nico to check in with him, hated the idea that it was possibly that this check-in text could be the last he ever heard from the younger man that he was really starting to like a lot. Still, it was a good idea. This way, they could get the police involved if it was necessary.

The only problem was that, now that Percy had the idea that the text would be the last he heard from Nico, it kept eating away at him while he worked. He was stationed at the touch aquarium that day and his job would be to answer any questions the kids wandering through the aquarium might have, but because his mind kept wandering back to Nico and worrying about his friend, he kept missing the questions asked. More than once, a kid got frustrated with him for ignoring them and, at one point, one of the supervisors came over and pulled Percy aside to give him a warning to “either stop daydreaming or go home and lose a day’s pay.”

And, gods knew, he was _trying_ to focus on his job. He liked being able to tell the kids about the anemones, starfish, and urchins. He liked being able to entertain the kids with his silly stories about what the fish in the tank told him - he could always convince a group of kids that he understood what fish had to say. Sure, most kids over seven didn’t actually believe him, but the kids that did believe him gave the best smiles and made his job more fun.

However, any moment that Percy had free, when his station was clear of little kids who’d run over to the next room to see the tanks of jellyfish and octopi instead, he’d reach into his pocket to check if Nico had texted him again. With hours still left of work, Percy couldn’t help but worry, even more so when Nico still didn’t text again after a couple of hours. He sent a text to Nico during one of his breaks, reminding the teen that he’d promised to check in before going to work.

That got a response from Nico, who texted back almost immediately to say he’d just been about to text Percy; he was heading out just at that moment. Percy gave a sigh of relief and relaxed a little, putting his phone away again and returning to work. Just a couple more hours before the aquarium closed to the public for the private event starting at eight. After that, he could go home and see if Nico was home, too.

Closer to six, Percy felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Thankfully, with the noise of the kids still in the aquarium, the supervisor wandering through the room didn’t hear it. Percy  would check in a few minutes. As soon as his station was clear again and the supervisor had moved to the next part of the aquarium, Percy pulled his phone out of his pocket. Nico had texted him again.

_Where are you?_

Percy blinked at the question and replied as quickly as he could. _At work._

_I know. Where in the aquarium are you?_

A slight frown of confusion tugged at Percy’s lips. _Coastal Kingdom. Is everything okay?_

_Yeah. When’s your next break?_

_At 7, when we close to the public._ Percy looked up to check to make sure he wasn’t being swamped with kids again and that his supervisor wasn’t around. While the coast was clear, he checked his texts again. _Why?_

_Meet me outside on the pier if you can._

Percy would have asked why, but a group of kids rans over then to check out the touch pool. He stuffed his phone into his pocket and gave them his attention, flashing a smile at them and giving the usual opening spiel about the touch pool. There was only an hour until the aquarium closed. Employees would have time to take a quick break for dinner while a new group set things up for the private event. Percy would have to be back at his station by eight-thirty, but that gave him plenty of time to meet Nico.

Knowing that Nico was alright, at least judging by his texts, Percy was able to give the kids his all, telling them all about the sea creatures in the pool that they could touch, making the younger kids laugh and smile with his stories of what the creatures said.

Come seven o’clock, the guests were leaving the aquarium. Once the room he was in cleared out, Percy headed for the locker room to retrieve his wallet and checked out with his supervisor, who reminded him to be back to his station on time. Percy nodded and headed out the back employee exit. Rounding the corner of the building, he looked around for Nico.

He spotted him leaning against one of the sculptures in the entrance courtyard. Surprisingly, Nico was wearing a pair of black jeans, torn in the knees and thighs, with a grey t-shirt and an aviator jacket over it. Percy had been expecting Nico to be in the suit he wore for work. Considering that Nico had said that he was heading to work earlier and was now at the aquarium, Percy had the feeling that the younger man had been fired.

He wasn’t going to ask outright, though.

“Hey,” Percy greeted, raising a hand to half-wave at Nico. “Have you eaten? I’m on break for dinner, then I gotta get back for this party.”

“No, haven’t eaten,” Nico replied, pushing himself away from the sculpture he’d been leaning against. He slipped his hands into his pockets. “Want to go across the street to that little pizza place?”

“Sure.”

Nico said nothing else as the two of them headed across the street. Percy wondered what was going on, but waited until they were in the restaurant and seated at a small booth to ask why Nico had come to see him.

“Everything alright?”

Nico picked up the menu and started looking over the options. “I went to work tonight,” he told Percy. “Got to The Labyrinth and the whole place was closed up. There was a notice of closure on the door.”

Percy looked up at him, surprised. “Wait, the place closed down?”

“Mhmm.” Nico set his menu down again and crossed his arms over his chest before leaning forward, arms resting on the table. “I called Minos’ daughter, Ariadne. She’s always been a lot nicer to me than her dad and her brothers, so I figured I could ask her what happened.”

“And?”

“She called the police on her father,” Nico explained. He looked a little uncomfortable, as though something was bothering him. “There’s a lot going on that I didn’t know about, some really awful things involving some missing teens. Minos, Asterion, and Androgeus were all taken into custody this morning.”

Percy’s eyebrows shot up. “Holy shit.”

Nico gave a snort. “No kidding. I had no idea until Ariadne explained everything. It still makes me sick some of the things she told me.”

“Please don’t repeat any of them in the restaurant,” Percy told him. He didn’t think he wanted to know anyways. Finding out Minos and his sons had all been arrested was enough for him. “What are you going to do about the job?”

“Well, there’s almost no chance of the bar re-opening,” Nico replied. He paused for a moment when a waiter came to get their order and gestured for Percy to order for both of them. After Percy ordered a small pepperoni pizza, Nico continued. “Ariadne said the police are going to be investigating the building. I won’t be working there ever again. So I’m going to have to really start looking for another job for rent.”

Percy nodded. “You know, the offer I made still stands. We could room together and split rent.”

A smirk crossed Nico’s lips. “One date and you’re already suggesting I move in with you. You move fast, Percy Jackson.”

“Says the guy that made out with me on my couch last night.”

Nico pulled a napkin out of the dispenser, crumpled it up, and threw it at Percy, which only made him laugh. “You liked it.”

“I liked it a lot,” Percy grinned at him. “Maybe we can pick up where we left off sometime.”

“We’ll see how this date goes,” Nico told him, giving a grin of his own.

They switched subjects, avoiding any discussion of the reasons behind the closure of the bar, and talked while they waited for their pizza. Nico asked Percy about the party he had to work at and Percy explained that it was actually a wedding and reception for a couple that loved the sea. He’d be greeting the wedding guests while they mingled after the ceremony and telling them about the touch pool, much as he’d done most of the day already. It was going to be much more relaxed during the wedding than it had been during the usual day at the aquarium, which was great, really. Percy was already tired, but he still had a few hours before he was done for the day.

The pizza came and they ate a couple of slices each before Percy had to get back to the aquarium. He took care of the bill while Nico packed the rest of the pizza away to take home, then the two of them left. Guests for the wedding were already milling about in the aquarium courtyard, waiting to be let inside for the ceremony. Percy needed to get back inside to help finish up the preparations and get back to his station.

“So, I’ll see you later,” he told Nico, giving the younger man a smile. “I know we have finals to worry about this week, but do you want to meet me for lunch Monday?”

Nico nodded, smiling back. “See you then.”

* * * * *

After all the excitement of the weekend, including a cram study session on Sunday, finals week began and Percy was incredibly stressed out. Four classes, four finals, four chances to completely screw things up last minute, the first of which was his math final, which was already demanding to start with. He had a two hour break between that final and the second, which was the final with Dr. Bythos. The stress that was building up for Dr. Bythos’ final only made the math final more taxing on him. Add in that math was not exactly his strongest subject and he had dyslexia and ADHD on top of that, Percy was sure that his first final was going to be his worst one and his stomach was in constant knots as he slowly worked over the problems, determined to see the test through.

He’d worked too hard to get into college and pass his classes, he was not going to fail now.

It was still a relief when he finished and handed in his papers so he could leave and meet up with Nico for lunch. He all but bolted to the café they’d agreed to meet up at, both of them having finals at the same time that they could meet after they’d finished. Seeing Nico helped Percy relax more, the younger man smiling softly at him when Percy joined him at the café, the two of them talking about anything and everything that wasn’t finals as they had lunch.

With the incident over the weekend, the two of them were closer than ever; in just a few short weeks, they’d gone from almost antagonistic neighbors to friends, then friends to - whatever they were now. They’d both acknowledged an attraction to each other, there were the kisses on Percy’s couch and dinner on Saturday, that Nico had called a date, however jokingly. There was just nothing official between them and Percy wasn’t sure how to broach the subject.

He knew that he liked younger man and he knew Nico liked him - enough to make out with him and come to him for help. Percy wanted there to be more to it than that. He wanted to properly ask Nico out, ask him to be his boyfriend. He liked Nico a lot, once the initial irritation had worn off after they’d come to the agreement between them about Nico’s late night practice. Why not ask Nico out? It’d be simple - all he had to do was ask.

Therein laid the problem, though. Percy wasn’t sure exactly how he should ask. They were both already stressed out because of the incident on Friday night, even though the resolution had come swiftly - almost miraculously so - with Ariadne calling the police on her father. They still had finals to prepare for and Nico was looking for a new job to replace the one he’d lost with Minos’ arrest and the closure of the bar. Percy was almost certain that asking Nico out now was not going to work out - they were both just too busy for something like that.

So Percy just didn’t ask. They had their lunch, left the café to walk back to campus, and split up to go their separate ways - Percy to his next final and Nico to one of the practice rooms to work on his pieces for the recital he had coming up. Percy had a little while yet before his final, so he decided to hang out in the hallway outside the room and text Annabeth for some advice.

_Your final over?_

Annabeth took a few minutes to respond, no doubt still busy. Percy knew that Annabeth was always prompt to reply to texts if she wasn’t doing anything. He’d probably caught her at the tail-end of her final.

_Just finished. Meeting Reyna in a few. What’s up?_

Percy gave a soft smile. Annabeth had told him about Reyna before and he knew, from the way Annabeth’s stormy grey eyes lit up when she talked about the other girl that she liked Reyna a lot. It was the same light in her eyes that Annabeth had when she talked about architecture - passionate and devoted. He hadn’t yet met Reyna, but he could probably guess her in a crowd from the way Annabeth talked about her and described her.

_When are you going to ask her out?_ Percy sent, adding a teasing emoticon a moment later.

_I’ll ask her out when you ask Nico out,_ Annabeth sent back with lightning speed. Clearly, she’d had that quip ready. Percy was left a little taken aback that Annabeth had already figured out his crush on Nico. _Don’t try denying it, I saw how you looked at him the other day._

Annabeth knew him all too well, after far as Percy was concerned. They were best friends for a reason; they’d spent every summer together at camp, so of course they’d gotten to know each other really well. She knew how to read him, better than anyone else, save for his own mother. It’d often been said that Annabeth knew Percy better than he knew himself, but that wasn’t really true. She knew him as well as he let her and, well, okay, Percy was pretty open with her, which was why he was comfortable talking to her about Nico.

_Actually, I plan to. Just don’t know how yet._

There was a pause before Annabeth replied to say she was calling him. After a moment, his phone rang and he pressed answer. “Well?”

“At least you’re planning to ask him out a lot sooner than you did with me,” Annabeth told him.

Percy knew she wasn’t really bitter about it, but she did often tease him about how slow he was to ask someone out. They’d both liked each other as early as fourteen, she’d kissed him when they were fifteen, but it wasn’t until they were sixteen that Percy had actually asked her out. As far as they’d figured, after all that time, when Percy finally asked her out, the fire of their attraction to each other had already begun to fizzle out.

“Yeah, well, we were kids and it was summer camp,” Percy pointed out. Annabeth gave a snort on the other end of the line and Percy couldn’t help a grin. “Hey, you could have asked me out.”

“That would’ve been too easy, Seaweed Brain.”

“Do you actually have some advice for me?” Percy asked, rolling his eyes. “I’ll help you ask Reyna out if you help me ask Nico out.”

Annabeth laughed. “Percy, you’re my best friend and I love you, but you are not helping me ask out the girl I like. I can handle Reyna on my own. You’re the one who was absently almost dating Rachel and couldn’t ask me out without being prompted by half the camp.”

“It was six people.”

“Point still stands, Percy,” Annabeth countered. Percy could hear a door opening on his friend’s end and another girl’s voice call Annabeth’s name. Annabeth’s voice was muffled a moment later, as though she’d covered her receiver with her hand, but Percy could still hear her greeting Reyna. “Look, Percy, you want to ask him out, _do it_. Don’t waste time like you did with me. You know how you feel about him. Take him to a movie to relax after finals and ask him to be your boyfriend then. You’ve got this, Percy.”

“Like you’ve got things with Re - ”

“I’m hanging up, Percy,” Annabeth cut him off. A moment later and all Percy heard was the drone of the phone line.

Percy gave a snort. “She actually hung up on me.”

Well, at least Annabeth had given him some advice. A movie after finals sounded like an idea. She was right when she pointed out that he knew how he felt about Nico; the fact that he wanted to ask the younger man out was the biggest indicator of the feelings that had been growing steadily over the past several weeks. He still wasn’t sure exactly of Nico’s feelings for him, but he felt good about them; after all, Nico had initiated things on Friday night and, as the weekend moved along, continued to show trust in Percy, smile at him, and tease him about being on dates.

Those were all good signs, right?

So, armed with Annabeth’s suggestion and a good feeling about his chances with Nico, Percy decided it was time to actually head for his final with Dr. Bythos. He didn’t have quite as much of a good feeling when it came to the impending test, but he’d studied his brains out for this final, so he was sure he’d do a good enough job to pass. He’d passed previous classes with Dr. Bythos, so he had a pretty good idea of what he was up against.

When he got to the classroom, he was still early - many of his classmates were already waiting outside, notebooks, tablets, and phones in hand for some last minute studying or attempts to relax before the test. Percy joined the queue outside the classroom and pulled his own notebook out of his bag to run over his notes again. Before he could really get into his notes, he caught sight of Will Solace heading down the hallway towards him.

Percy knew Will because of two main reasons - Will not only lived in the apartment below him, but had also gone to the same summer camp that he and Annabeth had attended. Though Will was younger, not much older than Nico, he had been the primary attendant in the camp infirmary, under the tutelage of Mr. Chiron, the camp director and head healer. Percy had met Will the summer he turned sixteen, after Annabeth had gotten injured on a hike. He couldn’t exactly call them friends, but after finding out that Will had moved into the apartment below him with his long-time boyfriend, Percy had found himself getting pretty well acquainted with Will.

Remembering the note he’d found on Nico’s door a few weeks ago, the one that had mentioned that Will was worrying about juries as well, sparked an idea in Percy’s mind and he called Will’s attention to him with a wave as he called the younger man’s name. Will looked up and gave a friendly smile as he came over to see what Percy wanted.

“What’s up, Percy?”

“You’re in the same class as Nico di Angelo for piano, aren’t you?” Percy asked. He vaguely recalled Nico mentioning Will’s name when he talked about his piano class one day. “You have juries this week for finals, right?”

Will gave a nod. “Yeah, Thursday at two. Are you planning to come?”

“Can I?”

“It’s an open performance,” Will explained. He shouldered his bag and pulled it so he could unzip it and reach in, pulling out a piece of folded paper a moment later. He handed it to Percy. “All of us have to do two pieces for the juries, but since we’re doing them in the theatre, it’s open for students to sit in on if they want.”

Percy took the paper and unfolded it, glancing down at it. It looked like a program for a recital, though with all the pen markings on it, it was probably an early draft. Still, the time and place listed were unblemished. The idea in Percy’s mind, that he’d come by after Nico’s juries, began evolving in his mind. He gave a grin.

“Y’know, I think I’ll come.”

“Great,” Will smiled. “You can hear me slaughter some Dvořák, free of charge.”

Percy laughed. He wasn’t sure who Dvořák was, having never really paid much attention to music that wasn’t on mainstream radio, but he’d withhold judgment for the juries. “Yeah, okay. Mind if I keep this?” he asked, holding up the program. “So I remember where to go?”

“Sure, go ahead. You’ll get the final program at the performance, so you know what’s being played.”

“Awesome.” Percy gave a grin. “Look forward to it.”

“See you then,” Will nodded, then gestured to the classroom behind Percy. “Looks like you better head in for your final.”

Percy looked over his shoulder to see his classmates heading into the room, many of them murmuring to themselves as they continued to look over notes. “Yeah, probably. Thanks, Will!”

“I take it I shouldn’t tell Nico you’re coming to the performance?” Will asked as Percy turned to head into the classroom.

“Definitely don’t tell Nico,” Percy replied, turning back to make a gesture, pointing at Will and then zipping his mouth shut.

“Got it,” Will told him. He repeated the gesture, zipping his lips before giving Percy a thumb up and heading back down the hall.

Percy took a deep breath, plans still forming in his mind as he headed into the classroom. Dr. Bythos gave him one of his cool looks that suggested, very strongly, that Percy take his seat so the class could get on with the final. He decided to be quick about it and put his plans on the back burner of his mind. He had a couple of days until the performance, but his final was now and he needed to concentrate on it before anything else at the moment.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as Dr. Bythos started to pass out the exam sheets. He had this, just as he was sure he had things with Nico, just as Annabeth told him.


	4. Finale

Percy only had one final on Tuesday - a pretty easy final for a P.E. course that he’d pretty thoroughly enjoyed - and then a day off on Wednesday to focus on studying before his last final on Thursday morning. Of course, he didn’t spend most of Wednesday _studying_ ; he had plans to put together first. He wasn’t entirely sure he could pull it off in time, but he had a few connections he could pull for help.

His first step was to call in a favor from Katie Gardner, one of the girls he’d met at camp. He’d helped her a few times when the camp pranksters, Travis and Connor Stoll, had decided to target her. In gratitude, she’d told Percy that if he ever needed anything, to give her a call. Granted, when she’d told him that, she probably hadn’t expected that he’d be calling two years after they’d all stopped going to camp.

Actually, as far as he was concerned, he was probably lucky that Katie _had_ recognized his name. It had taken her a moment after he called, but she had given an exclamation of recognition and proceeded to small talk with him for nearly half an hour before asking him why he’d called. Percy told her about his plan and asked if she could help him - Katie’s father, as he remembered, ran a florist shop on the other side of Manhattan. He asked if he could get a small bouquet, something that wouldn’t be too awkward to give another guy after a piano recital. Katie promised that she’d get something put together, if Percy could come and pick it up at noon the next day. He agreed and they figured out a price before Percy thanked Katie and hung up so he could move onto the next step of his plan.

He needed Mitchell for this part.

So he left his apartment and headed for the elevator to go down to the level below. As he approached, the doors opened. A beautiful young woman, probably not that much older than Percy was, stepped out, carrying a keyboard and a bag rather awkwardly in her arms. It didn’t take much for Percy to come to the conclusion that the keyboard was most likely Nico’s and that the woman was probably Ariadne, the daughter of the man that had caused Nico so much trouble. Percy hurried over to give her a hand.

“Here, let me carry that for you,” he offered. “It’s Nico’s, isn’t it?”

The woman gave a grateful nod and let Percy take the keyboard. “Thank you. Yes, it is. You must be his neighbor, Percy.”

“That’s right.” Percy shifted the keyboard so he could hold it and move to lead the woman back towards the apartments. “I don’t think Nico’s home right now. If you want, I can take this to my place for safe-keeping until he gets home.”

“I’d appreciate that. I just want him to have his things back.”

Percy led her to his apartment and set the keyboard down, propping it up against the wall while he unlocked the door. “You’re Ariadne, aren’t you?” he asked. At her nod, he continued. “He told me about you, how you helped him before.”

Ariadne shook her head. “I didn’t help him. If I’d been any help to him, he never would have stayed at the bar. If he’d known what might have happened, he would have gotten out a lot sooner.”

Percy picked up the keyboard and carried it inside, then gestured for Ariadne to come in. She thanked him and stepped inside, setting the bag she carried on her shoulder down on the couch in the living room. From it, she pulled out a laptop, a large brown envelope, and a smaller white envelope, on which Percy could see Nico’s name in delicate, loopy handwriting that he could only assume was Ariadne’s.

“What might have happened?” Percy asked after a moment, recalling that Nico had said something about missing teens when he explained the bar had been shut down.

Ariadne wrapped her arms around herself, clearly uncomfortable and ashamed of the things she knew. “I suppose it...wouldn’t be trouble to tell you. The police already know. Nico knows.” She took a slow breath, closing her eyes to steel herself for the truth she was about to tell. “My father and brothers were...involved in a trafficking ring. Have you seen the news reports of the missing teenagers the last year or so?”

Percy shook his head. “I don’t really watch the news, but there was a seminar I attended last quarter that covered the story as a current event. Six missing boys and six missing girls.”

Ariadne nodded. “Seven missing girls, actually,” she told him. “My father’s bar was named The Labyrinth because of the actual labyrinth he had built in the catacombs underneath it. He had my brother, Androgeus, take the teens into the labyrinth, from a back entrance. Asterion would... _condition_ them. Then my father would take certain patrons from the bar down a hidden staircase to the labyrinth where they could take their pick.”

Percy’s stomach flipped inside him at the thought of the monstrosities Ariadne spoke of and he could barely believe that such an awful thing would be happening so close to him. Oh, he knew Manhattan wasn’t without its crimes and dark side, but the fact that Nico had been working at the Labyrinth while these things had been going on? That thought alone had his stomach curling into itself.

“Your father was going to make Nico the seventh boy, wasn’t he?”

Ariadne hesitated, then gave a nod, her face contorted in disgust that her own family was involved with this terrible matter. “That’s why he took Nico’s keys the other night and sent my brothers here. I called the police as soon as I could get away and told them everything. I didn’t know Nico’s phone number or where he lived, so I couldn’t send anyone here to stop my brothers. I was so worried they’d take him!”

Percy moved over to Ariadne’s side, putting his hand on her shoulder. “He came to me. He stayed here so he was safe. They didn’t get to him.”

Ariadne nodded again, a soft choking noise escaping her as she turned to Percy and slipped her arms around him in a tight hug. “Thank you so much,” she sobbed into his shoulder. “I couldn’t forgive myself if anything happened to him! I promised myself I wouldn’t let him get hurt!”

Percy held onto Ariadne as she cried against his shoulder. He could only guess how long she’d been holding in her tears, all the pain she felt and the fear she’d held for Nico and the others she’d known about, but could do little to help, for fear of her own life. Percy reassured her that she’d done the right thing in the end, that she’d saved Nico from sharing the same fate as the others. The Labyrinth was shut down, Minos and her brothers were in custody, Nico was safe, and Ariadne could rest assured that she’d done what she could.

When Ariadne stopped crying, Percy offered her a glass of water, which she gratefully accept as she tried to collect herself. She thanked him for his help and for listening, for telling her she’d done the right thing. She moved back to the couch to retrieve her bag when she was ready to leave and turned to Percy, giving him a small, if tired, smile.

“Tell Nico I’m sorry for everything,” she said. She ran her hand over her face before tucking a loose bit of her black hair behind her ear, taking a deep breath. “Also, tell him that I wish him the best of luck in the future. He’s a very kind young man, for all the harsh things life’s thrown at him, and I’m glad that my father never took that kindness from him.”

Percy gave a nod. “I’ll tell him. Thank you for bringing his things back. He’ll be very glad to have his keyboard back.”

“I wish there was more I could do, to make up for the things my family’s done to him.”

“You made sure his father didn’t drag him into that labyrinth,” Percy pointed out. “I think that’s the greatest thing you could’ve done for him. And you returned the keyboard his sister got for him. That’s going to mean a lot to him.”

Ariadne gave Percy another small smile. “Thank you, Percy. You’re a good friend to Nico. I’m glad he has someone he can depend on like you.”

“I do my best,” Percy smiled back.

Ariadne gave a soft laugh. “You don’t give yourself enough credit,” she told Percy. She glanced at the clock hanging on Percy’s wall and shouldered her bag. “I should get going. I’ve taken up enough of your time.”

“It’s no problem,” Percy replied. He grabbed his keys and moved to join Ariadne. “I’m heading downstairs, so why don’t I go as far as the next floor down with you?”

Ariadne nodded and the two of them headed for the elevator. With most already said, there was little for conversation as they walked down the hall, got into the elevator, and pressed their respective call buttons. As the doors closed, Percy turned to her.

“Are you going to be alright?” he asked.

“Yes. I’m leaving Manhattan with my boyfriend tonight.” Ariadne leaned against the side of the elevator, arms wrapped around herself. Her dark gaze fell to the floor as a soft sigh escaped her. “I’ve wanted to get away for so long. I just...couldn’t. Not until my father was stopped. Theseus is my best chance to get away now. I can’t do it on my own.”

Percy gave a soft nod and paused when the elevator came to a stop at the next floor. “I hope you and Theseus get away safely. Good luck, Ariadne. Thanks again for helping Nico.”

“I’m just glad he’s safe. Take care of him, Percy.”

“I will,” Percy promised as the doors opened and he stepped out of the elevator. He turned back to wave good bye to Ariadne, only heading away once the doors were closed again and the elevator was heading down.

* * * * *

After speaking to Mitchell for a couple of hours, enlisting the younger man’s help with what to wear to the recital - figuring that, if he was going to go and ask Nico out afterwards, he wanted to at least look nice - Percy eventually returned to his own apartment. He picked up his phone from the kitchen counter, where he’d left it to charge, and sent Nico a text to tell him that Ariadne had dropped things off for him. Nico was home, it turned out, and came over a few minutes later to retrieve his laptop and his keyboard, relief and gratitude coloring his face.

Nico thanked Percy for holding onto his stuff for him and, with Percy’s help, got everything back to his own apartment in one trip, instead of the two it would have taken to get both the keyboard, laptop, and envelopes back to the apartment. With his keyboard back, Nico told Percy that he’d talk to the older man the next day and that he was going to be practicing as much as he could, since the practice pianos at school were all but booked for the rest of the time between then and the recital juries the next day.

Percy could hear Nico practicing for a couple of hours that night, before quitting at ten as a courtesy to let Percy sleep. Although, if Percy was going to be perfectly honest, he didn’t think he’d mind so much if Nico wanted to practice late into the night as he had before. He’d come to enjoy the music that Nico played, even if he didn’t necessarily know the names of the pieces. He was no expert when it came to music that wasn’t popular on the radio, but he knew that he liked what he heard drifting to his apartment from Nico’s.

He couldn’t help but dream again of Nico’s playing, even though the younger man had stopped. He dreamt of Nico in that well-tailored suit, with his long hair tied back, with just wisps of his bangs falling to frame his face. He envisioned Nico’s fingers, so slim and dark against pearly white keys, dancing over over the piano, body moving in perfectly fluid movements as he reached for keys on either side of the instrument. Nico’s head was tilted down, so his long lashes hid his dark brown eyes, but the soft smile on his lips couldn’t be hidden as he played.

Percy saw himself in the dream, sitting in the audience, applauding for Nico as the song came to an end. Lights dimmed around them, except for the light on Nico and the younger man brought one hand up to gesture for Percy to join him on stage. Percy came more than willingly and leaned over Nico, pressing his lips against the teen’s as Nico tilted his head towards him.

When Percy woke from this dream, it was all he could hope that, maybe, something similar would happen at the recital he now really looked forward to attending.

* * * * *

Thursday was pretty busy, as far as Percy was concerned. He had until nine-thirty to study for his last final in Social Geography, a class that covered five credits required for his degree, then had to leave to make it to class for his final at ten. With luck, he’d finish well within the two hour time-frame to get to the florist shop where Katie would have the bouquet ready, then to the theatre where the music classes were having their recitals at two. As it turned out, it was more than just the piano class, but select students taking private lessons on other instruments as well - Percy had read the program he’d gotten from Will and was expecting the recital to be fairly long, but was still determined to go to surprise Nico.

As it turned out, the final was comparatively easy to the two major course finals he’d already taken - multiple choice, with at least one obviously wrong answer per question; it was only Percy’s dyslexia that made him take the test slowly, making sure he read everything twice before he was certain he understood what he was being asked before picking an answer. He finished with plenty of time to spare, turned in his test, and left room, reaching into his pocket to call in his next favor.

A quick conversation later and he was meeting up with Annabeth to go get the bouquet. She teased him mercilessly about getting Nico a bouquet, telling him that she’d never thought of him as the kind of guy who got _flowers_ for anyone he liked. In the next moment, as Percy got into her car, she complimented him for thinking of it - and his whole plan in general.

“You’re really serious about asking him out,” she commented as she headed off campus, following Percy’s directions towards the florist shop. “I’d almost be offended with how much thought you’ve put into this that you didn’t put into me, except I’m actually almost glad we didn’t work out.”

Percy arched a brow at her. “Not sure if that’s a compliment or not.”

“It’s neither,” Annabeth replied. “It’s just me saying I’m happier that you’re asking Nico out than me, because it means I can date Reyna and not feel guilty about it.”

“We both agreed the spark between us died or whatever poetic way we put it,” Percy pointed out. He didn’t hold a grudge against Annabeth for ending things before they’d really begun. They’d both understood that whatever had been growing between them had fizzled out and agreed to remain friends. “You never had to feel guilty about dating someone else. But I take it you did ask her out?”

“Yesterday, yeah. We’re going out tonight to celebrate the end of finals, since we’re both done.”

“Just remember, you’re not supposed to jump in bed with her on the first date,” Percy teased. It earned him a quick backhand to his shoulder from his friend and he laughed. “I’m joking, I’m joking!”

“Whatever, Percy Jackson, you don’t get to dictate who I do or do not jump in bed with!” Annabeth retorted, her cheeks a bright pink color. Just for good measure, she smacked his arm again. “I can’t believe you!”

“Eyes on the road, Annabeth.”

Annabeth gave a noise of exasperation and kept driving, though she muttered under her breath for a couple of city blocks. Soon enough, she’d picked up conversation again, changing the subject to something Percy was less likely to cause trouble with, asking how his mom was doing, if his step-father was still teaching high school, whether he’d heard from his half-brother, Tyson, lately. Percy was glad to talk about his family, answering Annabeth’s questions - his mother was doing fine, finishing up another draft for the novel she’d been diligently working on since Percy moved out; his step-father, Paul, was still teaching high school and enjoying it as usual; the last he’d heard from Tyson, his half-brother was still in California, helping his girlfriend Ella with her project to restore an old library in San Francisco.

The conversation made the drive to the florist seem shorter and they’d soon arrived. Katie was waiting inside, the bouquet Percy asked for in the cooler to keep the flowers fresh. She instructed him in its care and told him the meaning of the specific roses she’d picked for him - yellow with red tips to signify him falling in love with Nico, peach to symbolize the suggestion that Percy and Nico get together, and orange, she told him, for desire. Percy felt his cheeks heat up in a blush as Katie explained the rose meanings, but thanked her for everything, paying her for the half-dozen roses as they’d agreed.

“Good luck, Percy!” Katie told him as he left. “Hope things go well!”

Percy returned to the car, set the bouquet on his knees after he got in, and buckled his seatbelt before catching the raised eyebrow Annabeth was giving him. “I know, I know,” he said. “‘You never gave me roses, Percy.’”

“I wasn’t going to say that.”

“You were thinking it.”

“How would _you_ know what I’m thinking, Seaweed Brain?” Annabeth rolled her eyes and started the car to make the drive back to campus. “So, how are you going to ask Nico? Just throw the roses at his face with a wild cry of ‘date me’?”

It was Percy’s turn to roll his eyes. “No, what do you take me for?” he asked. “I’ve got a plan, but it kind of depends on what happens at the recital. I talked to Will last night and I must have lucked out. Nico’s the last piano student to play, so I think if I sneak out of the audience before the cellists start, I can probably meet him backstage.”

“And then what?”

“I didn’t ask the details of you asking Reyna out,” Percy pointed out. “Can you just trust me to do this and I’ll text you with how it goes?”

“I just want to make sure you know what you’re doing and don’t botch things,” Annabeth told him. She pulled onto the main street back to campus and began following it. “I asked Reyna out and she said yes. I want you to ask Nico out and for him to say yes. You’re my best friend, Percy. I want you to get the boy, instead of letting him slip away like you did with me.”

“I’m not going to, Annabeth. I promise, I’m not going to let him slip away.”

Annabeth went quiet for a long moment as she drove along before giving a nod. “Then I’ll trust you to do this. Text me tonight and tell me how it goes.” She flashed him a grin. “And if I don’t reply, assume I’ve jumped in bed with Reyna.”

Percy snorted. “Noted.”

* * * * *

They stopped for a quick lunch at Burger King, since they were both getting hungry and they had time to spare. While there, Percy decided to get his bag from the car and change into the nicer clothes Mitchell had loaned him; a pair of slacks and a button-up shirt that was just the right color of turquoise that it would set off his sea-green eyes - or so Mitchell had proclaimed when he’d handed it over. When he returned, Annabeth proceeded to tease him about how he cleaned up nicely and he tossed a fry at her.

After that, they got back to the car and got in and, soon, Annabeth was dropping Percy off in front of the music building of the campus. He thanked her for driving him and just grinned at her when she told him to get his own car. Annabeth smiled back and handed him the bouquet he’d passed to her while he got out of the car.

“Go get your boy, Jackson.”

“Will do, Chase.” As Annabeth drove off, Percy faced the music building and headed inside. There wasn’t much time left, he noted, checking his watch. He took a deep breath and let it out. “Here goes.”

He didn’t really know where the theatre was, but was able to follow some other students who were on their way to the recital and knew where they were going. Once there, he made sure that Nico wasn’t in sight before going up the aisle to find a seat where he’d be able to see when the younger man came on stage. Picking an edge seat right in the middle, Percy slid down into the seat and set his bouquet on his knees while he waited. Other students filed in, as well as older people that Percy assumed were parents of some of the students playing.

Mitchell waved to Percy when he came in, there to see Will play, and he came up to make sure everything was going according to the plan Percy had told him the previous day. He approved of the rose bouquet, telling Percy that it was classic romance, and suggested that Percy roll the sleeves of the borrowed shirt to his elbows. Percy was about to ask why, but Mitchell insisted that he didn’t question it and just do it, so he did. The younger man gave a thumbs up, wished him luck, then went to find a seat closer to the front of the theatre.

People were still coming in a few minutes after the recital was supposed to start. One of the instructors - Percy had no idea what her name was or what class she instructed - came out and explained there were a few technical difficulties going on with the sound board and that it’d be a few more minutes. It gave everyone more time to find a seat. Someone asked if the seat next to Percy was open and he gave an absent nod in response.

“So who are you here to see, Percy Jackson?”

Percy looked up to see the person next to him was a familiar face - yet another person he’d gone to camp with, Travis Stoll. It would probably be laughable that so many of the people he knew from camp attended the New Athens University, but many of the kids there had been from Manhattan and, although NAU was a recently established school, it had a good campus, respectable staff, and was close to home for many of its students. It shouldn’t at all be surprising that Percy knew some many people there.

“I’m here to see Nico,” Percy replied. He wasn’t sure if Travis knew who Nico was, so he continued. “He’s playing the piano.”

Travis nodded. He opened up the program that had been handed out at the door. “I think he’s playing after Austin,” he told Percy. He ran his eyes over the text of the program, then nodded and pointed. “Yeah, Nico di Angelo, right after Austin Harper. Looks like they’re the last two to play for the pianists.”

“You’re here for Austin?”

Travis gave Percy a grin. “Yeah. If he thinks his boyfriend’s not going to show up to hear him perform, he’s got another thing coming.”

Percy returned Travis’ grin with his own and would have commented if the lights of the theatre hadn’t gone down, dimming the large room so that the audience sat in the dark with the lights focused on the stage. The same instructor from before stepped out from behind the curtain and bowed before stepping over to the microphone that stood at the right of the stage. She announced the program, thanked a few faculty members that had helped put the recital together, and introduced the first set of students to perform - a small jazz quintet that played a couple of pieces together.

As the recital went on, Percy found himself becoming less nervous. The music played by the students eased his nerves, helping him relax, and he even found himself enjoying the pieces he’d never heard of before - classical pieces, modern jazz pieces, a few familiar songs that had been re-written for the instruments being played that day. He applauded with the rest of the audience, not out of obligation as an audience member, but because he actually enjoyed the music and wanted to show his appreciation.

A few groups played and a handful of soloists performed before a different instructor came up and introduced himself as the piano instructor. Percy sat upright at that point, ready to pay more attention as the pianists came to play. First, the instructor made what seemed a customary speech about the progress of his students, how far they’d come from the beginning of the term, and how proud he was of them for all their hard work along the way. He thanked the rest of the faculty and began a more personal speech about the piano and his experience before smiling at the audience.

“As a final note,” he said, bringing his speech to an end, “Maria Cristina Mena once said that ‘the piano keys are black and white, but they sound like a million colors in your mind.’ I hope that my students show you, through their performances, how true that statement is. Please listen and enjoy.”

The instructor stepped off stage and the first of the pianists stepped on, moving over to the piano. Percy didn’t recognize the student and her name on the program didn’t ring any bells, but she played a beautiful jazz piece and a quirky piece called “Maple Leaf Rag” that both sounded pretty good. Percy might not have known much about music or how the piano was played, but from the sound of it, the young woman playing was pretty good.

Will was the next person to play and Percy gave a small grin, remembering what the other man had said about slaughtering Dvořák. He might have braced himself for something that sounded awful, except that the instructor had said that his students were advanced, so Percy didn’t think Will was as bad as he let on. Actually, as Will played, Percy thought he sounded just fine. The pieces that he played were both good, they _sounded_ good, and Will seemed to have a good handle on his playing. Percy joined Mitchell in applauding loudly for Will when he was done.

A few more students came through after Will, each of them playing two pieces. Some of the pieces were classical pieces that Percy had never heard before, a few pieces were things that he recognized from movies he’d seen. A couple of pieces were even piano covers of popular songs from the radio that he recognized and, as Austin approached the piano to play, Percy noted the program said that the one of the pieces Austin was playing was something he’d arranged himself. That was impressive. Travis, next to Percy, applauded the loudest and gave a loud whoop when Austin finished, causing the young man on stage to turn a brilliant crimson.

Finally, Nico stepped on stage. Percy sat up again, eyes falling on the younger man. Nico wore the suit he’d worn to work before and had his hair tied back neatly. His glasses, which Percy rarely saw him wear, were perched on his nose as he carried his music over to the piano. It was clear from the way Nico held himself - a straight walk, no-nonsense expression on his face - that the younger man was planning to just play and get it over with. Perhaps he thought that there was no one in the audience there to specifically hear him.

Frankly, that’s just how Percy wanted it. He wanted Nico to be surprised afterwards. So, rather than make a spectacle of himself like Travis had, Percy planned to applaud with the rest of the audience and sneak out to meet Nico before the younger man could leave the building.

First, Nico had to play. Percy glanced at the program to see what Nico was playing. Like everyone else, he was playing two pieces - one classical and required, the other a player’s choice. Nico had chosen for his choice, a medley from Kingdom Hearts. Percy realized, as Nico began to play, that it was one of the pieces he’d recognized before, when he and Nico were still un-introduced and he was still grudgingly listening to Nico play through the wall, late at night. That’s why Percy had thought it was familiar; he’d played the games before, though it had been a long time since he had. Listening to Nico play the medley brought a few good memories back.

The second piece was called “Pavane for a Dead Princess” and, in the program, there was a note next to the title - _In memory of Bianca di Angelo_. Percy bit his lip, remembering how Nico had said that he’d stopped playing the piano after his sister’s death and that his keyboard at home had been a gift from Bianca. Nico was now on stage, honoring his sister with a piece dedicated to her. It was a slow piece, in stark contrast to the previous quick piece, sorrowful and full of emotion. Percy closed his eyes as he listened and let the music wash over him.

In his mind, as he listened, he could imagine a young girl dancing. She couldn’t be much older than sixteen or seventeen. Long black hair swung slowly across her back as she moved to the music. Percy imagined muted greens and blues swirling around her, silver light and black shadow catching her white dress. The girl spun, arms lifting above her head, a slow smile on her lips as Nico played. Bianca di Angelo, though Percy had never known her, turned to him as the music reached its zenith and her dark eyes - so much like her brother’s, holding secrets and expressing so much feeling - gazed at his through his mind’s eye.

Percy’s eyes shot open and he was back in the theatre. Nico was still playing, eyes on his music as his fingers moved over the keys. There was no girl dancing, no swirling blues and greens, no dark eyes meeting Percy’s. As Nico’s piece came to an end, Percy applauded with the rest of the crowd, though his clapping was slower, more understanding of the feeling that Nico had put into the music.

Nico took a bow and left the stage. While the next instructor came on stage to introduce the next set of students, Percy picked up the bouquet that had been sitting on his lap and slipped quietly from his seat to leave the theatre as stealthily as he could, so as not to cause a scene or distract the audience. He followed the hallway down, and turned a corner where he heard voices speaking of the recital. In the next hall, several of the students who had played were gathered, among them, Will and Austin. The two of them were talking together and, standing so close, Percy guessed the two of them were actually brothers.

“Hey, Will, sorry to interrupt,” Percy said, slipping past a trio of girls holding instruments and sheet music. “Have you seen Nico?”

Will eyed the roses in Percy’s hand and gave a smile before gesturing further down the hall. “He went into the practice room at the end of the hall. Last door on your left.”

“Thanks!” Percy moved to pass him, then paused and turned to him. “So much for slaughtering Dvořák. You sounded pretty good out there.”

“An extra day to practice works wonders,” Will grinned. He waved Percy off, gesturing for him to go find Nico and make it quick. “Good luck, Percy.”

Percy waved a thanks back to Will as he made his way through the gaggle of gathered musicians, through the hall towards the end of it. He stood in front of the closed last door on the left, as Will had told him. Through it, he could hear the piano being played, a repeat of the same piece Nico had played - the pavane. Percy took a moment to take a deep breath, run his hand through his hair, adjust the collar of his shirt, and just make sure he was ready to do this. His plan was going well so far; it all came down to actually asking Nico out. He had the flowers, he’d come to the recital, he’d even dressed up for the occasion.

What was there to lose?

Taking another deep breath to still the butterflies that were swooping around his stomach, Percy reached out and knocked on the door. He heard the music stop and straightened his back, holding the bouquet behind his back, so when Nico opened the door a moment later, the roses were out of his sight.

“Percy. What are you doing here?”

Percy gave Nico a casual smile. “I came to see you play. And listen, duh. You sounded great.” He pulled the roses back in front of them, handing the bouquet to a very surprised Nico. “These are for you.”

Nico held the roses in his hands, still surprised, and blinked at the roses before tilting his head up to look at Percy. “You came to listen to me?”

“Yeah. I mean, I’ve only ever heard you practicing, never actually performing. I thought I’d surprise you by coming to your recital.”

“And the roses?” Nico asked, dropping his gaze to the bouquet in his hands. A dusting of pink colored his cheeks as he studied the blooms for a moment. “Yellow with red tips…” Nico looked up to Percy. “You’re…?”

“You know what they mean?”

“I...worked at a florist shop in high school,” Nico explained. He shook his head, as if fending off disbelief. “Percy Jackson, are you asking me out with roses?”

“That depends,” Percy told Nico, smiling at him. “Do you want to go out with me? Will you be my boyfriend?”

“ _That_ depends,” Nico replied. He gave Percy a once over and then shot him a grin. “Are you going to dress up like that on dates more often or do I have to deal with you and your hoodies?”

“A mix of both.”

Nico laughed. “Alright. I’ll go out with you. We’re already practically dating.”

“That’s what I thought, but y’know.” Percy smiled at Nico. “Gotta make it official.”

Nico returned Percy’s smile with one of his own. “Then lemme give you an official answer,” he said before standing on his toes and pressing his lips against Percy’s in a slow, soft kiss.

Percy stepped closer and slipped his arm around Nico’s waist as he kissed back, pulling the younger man closer. As he felt Nico’s arms come up over his shoulders, he leaned forward, dipping Nico slightly. Nico gave a soft noise against Percy’s lips, but made no move to have him pull them upright. So they kept up the kiss, deepening it slowly until they both broke it to breathe.

“So,” Percy murmured against Nico’s lips. “Want to get dinner tonight?”

“Only if you wear that shirt.”

“Deal.”

* * * * *

Percy Jackson grabbed his keys from the kitchen counter on his way out the door. He’d told Nico that he’d come over at 6:30 to pick him up to go for dinner. It was strange, he thought, how much their relationship had changed in just weeks. In the beginning, Nico had been an annoyance, practicing late into the night. An honest conversation later and the two of them made peace and a friendship began to form. As time went on, Percy’s feelings deepened and it all came to a peak when Nico sought sanctuary in his apartment the night his boss sent his sons after him. After that, it was pretty clear what Percy had needed to do and now his neighbor was now his boyfriend.

Everything, as odd, and maybe a little sudden, as it had been had all worked out in the end, something that wouldn’t have happened at all -

\- if it weren’t for the piano.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reference to The Labyrinth as a trafficking ring came as an idea to me when I was doing some research into the historical evidence of the myth. According to Plutarch's "Life of Theseus", the Labyrinth from the myth was a simple prison where Athenian tributes to the funeral games held in honor of Minos' son Androgeus were held and given as prizes to Minos' general Tauros, whose cruelty gave rise to the myth of the Minotaur. 
> 
> The music that I've chosen for Nico to play throughout this fic are, in order: Ravel's "Pavane pour une Infante defunte", Kiwii216's "A Nobody's Heart" Kingdom Hearts medley, Gershwin's "Summertime", and Shostakovich's "Prelude and Fugue No. 4 in E minor, op. 87". I would definitely suggest taking the time to listen to them on youtube!


End file.
